Fender or bumper



H. L. cLAaAuql-l FENDER on BUMPER Filed March 23, 1925 2 Sheets-Shee't 1 H. L. CLA BAUGH FENDER OR BUIPER 2 sheeta shget 2 F1186 March 23. 1925 Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES: PATENT QFFIYCE...

HENRY. L. OL'ABAUGH, F CLEVELAND, OHIO.v

FENDER OR BUMPER.

Application filed March 23, 1925. 7 Serial .No..17,'649;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Omnaoerr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fenders or Bumpers, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in fenders or.bumpers for street cars, automobiles or the like.

The primaryobject is to provide a fender which will preventa person struck thereby from being thrown beneath a vehicle and further to so construct the fender as to mini- 'mize the extent of injury to the person.

Itislikewise an object to provide a highly efficient fender readily adaptable to any of the usual types, of automobiles and so constructed that it will possess unusual resiliency.througl 1out.

Other objects willbe in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In orderthat the invention and mode of operation may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, Ihave in the accompany ing illustrative drawings and detailed description thereof, pointed out one possible embodimentiof the same.

Figural is aside elevation illustrating the application of ,my improved fender or bumper to the forward end of an automobile;

Figure 2. is a top plan view showing its relation to an. automobile upon which itris mounted;

Figure 3. is a perspective view showing the relation of the main frame and the'bufier;

Figure. 4 is asectional view showing the stiffening or supporting rod'connection between the main frame and the buffer; and

Figure5 is a detail perspective view of the supporting arms, guide loops, and adjacent elements.

Similar characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the following specification and. accompanyingdrawings.

This fenderincludes a main or supporting frame which as shown consists of a relatively wlde b21116 connected by means of brackets or arms. 7 to the chassis 8' of" an automobile. Each bracket orconnecting arm? is made up. of. a, pair. of substantially identically formed imembers Qasshown' in Figure 5. A

relatively long narrow loopj portion lOifits,

snugly about the supportingb'ai"6 and has a neclc portion 11 extending forwardly a short distance whereat it .is widened to form a guide loop 12. The other end is apertured ment of the spring member 13'toward-the bar6 at certain times. It is apparent in FiguresQ and 5 that these loops also serve to limit the relative movement of the spring member 13' and the main supporting bar 6, that is, horizontal movement of the spring member 13 cannot extend a. distance greater than the length ofthese loops.

As shown in Figures'2', 3,;and i, a supporting or stiffening rod or bar 14111L$-0118 end' portion sl-idably 'mounted'in the main supporting bar 6 while its other end is fixed between attaching-plates 15 carried by a sub stantially V-shaped buffer portion. The aforementioned" spring member- 13 is arranged betweenthe bar 6 and the attaching plates 15 'and'is fixed to the supporting rod 14 by means of spaced-collars 16 which are pinned to the rod as clearly shown in Figure 4. The provision of a supporting rod as shown prevents undue relative movement of the b'ufl'er andthe remaining structure The ;main supporting' bar 6 and the co11- necting rod 14*are arranged rearwardly of thebufler which as shown comprisesa central tubular member l7an-d is provided with outwardly directed flanges 18'-to which the inner ends oft-he buffer bars 19' are riveted or otherwise attached. These buffer bars 19 are constructed of any preferredmaterial and are held in parallel relation by means of vertical brace bars 20; as shown in F igure 3. Obviouslyprojection of light rays from the headlights would be interrupted by the upper buffer bars carried by the central supporting member 17, in View of which I substitute-a light'wire structure 21as shown in Figures 1 and 8. Through this arrangement the headlights will be permitted to function in'the usual manner: The ends of the-wing portions of the buffer are supported bythe main-bar 6 through interposed substantially Ueshapedsprihg arms 22 as'clearly indicated in Figure Thesecurved arms-22 have theiriinner ends riveted orotherwise secured to the main-bar-(iat'tlie point or connection between this'bar-6 an'd'the spring member 13. It will be noted in Figure- 3 thatthis*spring member-1a is-in' the form" of a long-fiat curved strip whose central portion 13' is enlarged to provide a sufficient bearing through which the aforementioned connecting rod 1st may extend.

To prevent the tendency the buffer may have to plow under another vehicle, I arrange upon the central member 17 a shoe as shown in Figure 1. This shoe 23 is of sheet metal construction and as will be noted the bumper face 2 1 is arranged vertically whereas the face of the central member 17 to which it is riveted is inclined upwardly and toward the vehicle. Attaching flanges 25 are formed upon the shoe 23 and snugly fit into the opposed channels or guide ways 26 which result from the formation of the outwardly direct-ed flanges 18 to which the buffer bars 19 are attached. As indicated in Figure 2 the wings of the buffer terminate at points adjacent the front wheels and due to the rearward inclination, will deflect a person or object to one sideof the vehicle. Due to the yieldability of the entire structure the force of impact will be materially decreased and consequently the extent of injury to a person struck will be minimized. It is obvious that the curved spring members 22 as well as the buffer bars 19 will yield to a considerable degree before the bar 6 and spring member 13 will be flexed. Should the buffer or the shoe strike another vehicle or relatively stationary object the connecting rod 1 1 with the spring member 13 will be moved rearwardly until the spring member has reached the innermost end of the guide loops 12. At this point the bar 6 will flex with the spring member 13 and the short curved arm 22 and pressure will then be exerted directly upon the end of the chassis 8. Gbviously' this spring construction serves as a cushion or shock absorber and materially decreases damage resulting from a collision.

Manifestly, certain changes in the minor details of construction may be resorted to, and such of these changes as may fall within the scope of the appended claims, 1 consider within the spirit of my invention.

I claim 1. A buffer for a fend-er of the character described comprising, an upwardly rearwardly inclined central support, said support being tubular and having rearwardly inclined attaching flanges, and rearwardly.

diverging wing portions secured to said flanges.

2. A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a substantially V-shaped buffer arranged in advance of the supporting bar, a forwardly bowed spring bar disposed. between the bar and buffer and having its ends connected to the end portions of the supporting bar, and a connecting rod retaining thespring bar and buifer in fixed relation. and having slidable connection with the supporting bar.

3. A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a substantially V-shaped buffer arranged in advance of the supporting bar, a forwardly bowed spring bar disposed between the supporting bar and butter and having its ends connected to the end portions of the supporting bar, curved spring arms inter connecting the end portions of the buffer and supporting bar, and a connecting rod having one end fixed centrally to the buffer and extending rearwardly through the bowed spring bar and transverse support ing arm, said connecting rod being fixed for movement with the spring bar.

4.11 fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a substantially V-shaped bufl'er arranged in advance of the supporting bar, av forwardly bowed spring bar disposed between the supporting bar and buffer and having its ends connected to the end portions of the supporting bar, guide loops carried by the transverse supporting bar and encircling portions of the spring bar to limit relative movement between the bars, and a connecting rod fixed to the bufler and spring bar and slidable through the supporting bar.

A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a substantially V-shaped buffer arranged in advance of the supporting bar. a forwardly bowed spring bar disposed between the sup porting bar and buffer and having its ends connected to the end portions of the support ing bar, guide loops carried by the trans" verse supporting bar and encircling portions of the spring bar to limit relative movement between the bars, and a connecting rod fixed to the buffer and spring bar and slidable through the supporting arm, and spring means interconnecting the end portions of the bufler and transverse supporting bar.

6. A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a buffer arranged in advance of the supporting bar, said buffer including an upwardly rearwardly inclined central support, a pair of rearwardly diverging wings, spring means interconnecting the wings and end portions of the supporting bar, and a yieldable connection between the supporting bar and central support of the buffer.

7. A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a buffer arranged in advance of the support ing bar, said buffer including an upwardly rearwardly inclined central support, a pair of rearwardly diverging wings, spring means inter-connecting the wings and end portions of the supporting bar, a forwardly bowed spring bar disposed-between the supporting bar and buffer, and a connecting rod fixed to the central support of the buffer and the spring bar and slidable through the transverse supporting bar.

8. A fender of the character described comprising, a transverse supporting bar, a butler arranged in advance of the supporting bar, said buffer including an upwardly rearwardly inclined central support, a pair of rearwardly diverging wings, spring means inter-connecting the wings and end portions of the supporting bar, a forwardly bowed spring bar disposed between the supporting bar and butter a ronnecting rod fixed to the central support of the buffer and the spring bar and slidable through the transverse supporting bar, and guide loops carried by the supporting bar and encircling portions of the forwardly bowed spring bar to limit relative movement of said bars.

9. A buffer for a fender of the character described, comprising, a tubular central supporting member having rearwardly inclined attaching flanges and rearwardly diverging wing portions secured to said flanges, said wings each. comprising vertical and horizontal crossed interconnected bars.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

HENRY L. ILABAUGH. 

